The Dog's Wolf Cub
by VictorianChik
Summary: When Lupin is deaged by a potion, Sirius takes him in while Snape brews an antidote. Sirius must take care of the boy who used to be his best friend, but now needs him more than ever, but Sirius discovers more about himself and his past. Non-slash and CP
1. Shock

AN: I was in a fic exchange thingy for Harry Potter, and this is my challenge: a story where Lupin is deaged and Sirius has to take care of him. It was a struggle for me to think of anything to write, so I apologize if this feels forced. It was fun to make myself write outside my comfort zone, and I hope you enjoy this. It will have several parts and I have no idea how many so please be patient.

Warning: Corporal punishment in later chapters. (Sorry, this was the challenge so I had to write it)

Disclaimer: I own nothing here.

--

"What happened?" Sirius demanded, not believing the sight in front of him.

"He drank an altered potion," Dumbledore repeated what he had just told Sirius. "He went to take his monthly potion, and he must have taken the wrong one, and then happened."

Sirius stared down at the boy, not believing what he was seeing. It was like when someone showed him their childhood picture and you could see the strong resemblance to the child they had once been, but still they were different. It looked like he was seeing a picture of Lupin as a six-year-old, but it was not a picture – Lupin was standing in front of him as a six-year-old.

"It changed him to a child!" Sirius exploded. "Look at him – he doesn't reach my shoulder. He barely reaches my elbow – change him back."

"I'm afraid that is posing a bit of problem," Dumbledore shook his head. "The potion was quite complicated, and it – well, Severus?"

Snape stood to the side, his eyes shining with evil glee at seeing Lupin regressed to child again. "It was a rather unusual potion that I was experimenting with. Something to give the elderly to make them younger. So unfortunate it got mixed up with the real Wolfsbane potion."

"No," a voice squeaked.

Sirius jumped before he realized that it was Lupin talking, his voice high and unbroken, just like a six-year-old.

"That was the only potion there," Lupin insisted.

"Was it?" Snape lifted his eyebrows. "How very clumsy of me, putting out the wrong one."

"He did it deliberately," Sirius bellowed, ready to attack Snape.

"Gentlemen," Dumbledore said sharply. "There will be no fighting in my office. Despite the mixed-up potion – and we will be having a conversation about this later, Severus – we must concentrate on changing Remus back to his former age. Severus, what potion will fix this?"

"It's a complex antidote," Snape admitted in a much less snide tone. "It will take about a week to brew and – and I need the purple Militon berries to start the potion."

"But those only grow on the French Alps, in the summer," Lupin piped up. "That's three months from now."

Dumbledore blinked, but Lupin protested, "That's right – I paid attention in Herbology while everyone else was playing around."

"Summer?" Sirius blurted out. "We can't wait that long. I want him back in his mid-thirties by tonight."

"Well, if you want it, I guess I'll just have to go get it right now," Snape sneered. "I don't have any of the berries – you'll have to wait."

"All right, all right," Dumbledore put his hands up. "Everyone settle down. We're going to approach this thing logically and like adults. You three, take a seat in front of my desk, Lupin in the middle."

Sirius sat down, giving Snape a murderous look, and Snape returned the glare as he sat down, twitching his black robes straight. It took Lupin a little longer to get up into his chair. It was rather high; most first years had trouble sitting with their feet touching the floor. But Lupin tried to climb up and kept slipping on the smooth leather. Snape was smirking, but Sirius reached over and picked the boy up.

Lupin gave a startled cry when he was plucked up, but Sirius sat him down in the chair quickly, leaving his short legs to hang in the air. Dumbledore saw Sirius's help, but did not comment on it.

"Very well," Dumbledore looked straight at Lupin, "tell me what you remember, Remus."

"I came here to see Harry," Lupin's high voice filled the air. "And I knew Sirius would be here, too, so I'd see him. There is still two days until the full moon, and I went by his office," he pointed at Snape, "to see if he had Wolfsbane potion, and he said to come back. I went to see Harry and then I came back and took the potion that was out on the table and then I felt really sick."

Sirius wanted to jump up and rip out Snape's throat, but he forced himself to stay still and listen to his friend.

"I was going to call Snape, but then I got dizzy. I woke up on the floor, and my clothes were too big."

Sirius suddenly realized Lupin was wearing smaller clothes.

"I shrunk them," Snape muttered, "before I brought him here."

"So, you remember everything that happened before you changed?" Dumbledore prodded.

Lupin hesitated, his big eyes blinking, his serious look almost comical on his tiny face, and then said, "Yes, I remember everything. But I fell weird and different now."

"How?" Sirius demanded.

"Everything's so big," Lupin looked around the room, taking it all in. "And you're big too, Sirius. And Dumbledore and everything. And my hands seem small."

"Of course, you're idiot," Snape snarled. "You're six now, not thirty-six."

"I was barely thirty-five," Lupin shot back at him. "And I know what you're doing, Snape."

Lupin's childish voice had trouble with the potion master's name, almost pronouncing it _Thnape_. That made Sirius so angry he could barely keep still.

"You're a child – you don't know anything," Snape said scornfully.

"I don't work here anymore," Lupin declared. "I don't have to set a good example for the children – let's take this outside!"

"I could carry you out with one hand," Snape jeered.

"No one will be fighting," Dumbledore said sternly. "Severus will be making the potion as soon as the ingredients are available. Until then, we must decide what's to be done with Remus."

"Nothing's going to be done with me," Lupin piped up, pushing himself up straight in his chair. "I'll go home and wait for the potion. I'll be fine."

Dumbledore gave him a sympathetic look but said slowly, "I'm afraid that might pose some difficulty. You may have your adult mind, but you are a bit small to be on your own. We don't want you to get hurt at home, unable to get help. No, no, I think you would be much better off staying with someone."

"You want me to stay here?" Lupin suggested, not quite eager but open to the idea. "I could stay until summer. I can read and talk to students and help with classes–"

"And get in everyone's way," Snape interrupted.

Dumbledore looked calmly at Snape. "Are you offering to take him?"

Snape's eyes widened the smallest bit, and he stammered, "No, Headmaster, I was only pointing out the difficulties with him staying here. The other children are bigger. He'll be run over in the hallways. And what if he accidentally locks himself in a cupboard or falls out the window?"

"I'm not that stupid," Lupin protested, but Dumbledore was looking at Sirius.

"Me?" Sirius blurted out. "I – but, I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm on the run, sort of."

"He should be in prison," Snape told Dumbledore urgently.

"That's not true, Snape," Lupin insisted. "He was innocent, and you know it."

"That is a moot point now," Dumbledore cut through the bickering. "Sirius, you're going to take Lupin, and that's the end of it."

"Where are we going to live?" Sirius demanded.

Lupin blinked at the suddenly question, his fact falling slightly. Sirius wondered if Lupin actually wanted to stay with him for a while (they had been best friends for the longest time), but they had not seen each other all the years Sirius was in prison, and things had changed.

"I know of a house you can use," Dumbledore stated. "Severus, please take Lupin outside while I talk to Sirius."

"I can't stay?" Lupin began, but Snape clamped a hand on his shoulder.

"Let's go," Snape ordered.

"Let go of me," Lupin demanded as he was hauled to door. "I can walk by myself."

Sirius wanted to protest, but they were out into the next room, closing the door before he could object.

"You have to deal with him," Sirius told Dumbledore. "That bastard will stop at nothing, nothing! He could have killed Lupin."

"I see we never grow out of playing harmful practical jokes," Dumbledore said quietly.

Sirius flushed, but insisted, "That was different. Snape did this deliberately. He should pay for this."

"Oh, he will," Dumbledore nodded. "You and Lupin will be staying at his home, Spinner's End."

--

As far as Sirius could see, the only good to come out of the whole debacle was Snape's fury over having to lend his own house to them. Snape bellowed that he would not, and Dumbledore took Snape into the office, leaving Sirius and Lupin out in the hall.

"I can't believe we'll live at Snape's house," Lupim smiled. He looked up at Sirius, up, up, up at the tall man. "You think Snape is a greasy slob like he was back when we went to school and his house is a mess?"

"Probably," Sirius grinned. "We'll have to clean the whole house out when we get there."

A few minutes later, Dumbledore came out. "I will arrange for a floo to take you there."

"Is the nasty git not coming out?" Sirius sneered.

"Don't say that front of the child," Dumbledore admonished before he could catch himself. "I mean, I'm sorry, Remus, I keep forgetting you are not really as young as you look. Which reminds me, we need to get you the appropriate things you'll need."

"Like my books?" Lupin looked up at the even taller wizard. "And my research and my drawings?"

"Those too," Dumbledore smiled.

"All right," Lupin nodded. Then he started off down the hall.

"Where are you going?" Sirius demanded.

Lupin paused, turning back to face them. "I was going to tell Harry and his friends goodbye."

"I think you better stay here," Dumbledore cautioned. "We – uh, might need your help."

"All right," Lupin agreed. He trotted with short steps back to the two men.

"We're going to need some trunks," Dumbledore began.

"I'll get them," Lupin broke into a run.

"Remus Lupin, come back," Dumbledore ordered.

Lupin looked shocked, and as he returned, he said, "You said you wanted my help. I was going to help."

"Stay here," Dumbledore told him, all smiles gone. He went back into the office, leaving both of them out in the hall.

Sirius had a crazy urge to clamp a hand on the child before he took off again, and he struggled to remind himself that Lupin might look like a child, but he was really an adult. He just seemed so small – Sirius knew he could scoop him up with one hand if he really wanted to and carry him around under one arm.

Dumbledore opened the door, looking stern, but the office was empty, Snape having left by floo powder.

"Severus has gone to his house, and he has half an hour to get it ready for you," Dumbledore said as he led them back into his office. "I offer you a seat until then.  
Perhaps some tea?"

Sirius opened his mouth to agree to tea, but Lupin was eying the bowl of candy on Dumbledore's desk.

"Would you care for a lemon drop?" Dumbledore held out the candy dish.

As Lupin reached his hand out, Dumbledore warned, "Just two – no more."

Lupin froze, staring at him, but the headmaster was looking at Sirius.

"You'll thank me later," Dumbledore told him. "Too much sugar, you know."

Lupin scowled, but the moment he popped the candy in his mouth, he smiled.

"It's better than I remember. And bigger – when did they start making candy so big? It's fills up my whole mouth. Thank you."

"You're most welcomed," Dumbledore replied, but he looked very serious. "I think you and Sirius are going to have a long period of adjustment."

"What do you mean?" Sirius shrugged impatiently. "We lived together in a dorm room for seven years. A house won't be that much different."

"We'll just have to wait and see," Dumbledore murmured as he stood to go ask a house elf for tea.

Sirius looked down at the small boy beside him who was still sucking on his candy as if it were the best thing that he had ever tasted. Perhaps the headmaster had a point.


	2. Change

AN: Because reviewers asked for me to call Lupin Remus, I have done so in this chapter. Hope it reads better.

Disclaimer: I do not own this or any of the fandoms I write in.

--

Sirius looked up at the house and barely contained his disgust. The place was awful – boards crooked, wood rotting, roof shabby, windows dirty.

"This hovel is your house?" Sirius asked Snape who had accompanied them.

Snape looked ready to rip Sirius's throat out, but Dumbledore stood between the two men.

"It will do for now," Dumbledore decided. "Snape has not spent much time here so naturally it has fallen into disrepair."

"Then we have to clean it up?" Sirius sneered.

"Touch one thing in my house and die!" Snape spat.

"I could blow the whole thing up, and no one would know the difference," Sirius scoffed.

"I'll blow you and scatter the pieces so far no one will find enough of you to convict me."

"Can we go inside?" Remus asked, glancing up at Dumbledore. The little boy had been quiet on the trip out. They had used a Portkey rather than Apparating as Dumbledore refused to let Remus Apparate though the boy said he would be find. So it had been a chore of finding a Portkey and packing up things. Dumbledore had sent Snape to find the right Portkey though Sirius had sneered that the man couldn't find his own ugly nose with both hands and a compass.

Packing had also been difficult; Remus kept trying to help, but he forgot he was too short to reach the high shelves and clamored up on chairs and stools in attempt to reach items. The last time Dumbledore had caught him climbing right up the shelves of a cupboard; Dumbledore had ordered him down and sent Remus into the next room to look for an appropriate trunk. There were no trunks in the next room, but while Remus searched faithfully, Dumbledore had used the time to warm Sirius that he had to be responsible.

"It's Remus," Sirius had shrugged. "How much trouble can he be? Most of the time I won't know he's in the house."

"That's when you need to be afraid," Dumbledore had warned.

And as Sirius stood still, staring up at the house, he agreed with Dumbldedore. Remus might get hurt in there; the whole place looked ready to collapse if someone shut a door too hard.

"Shack _a la_ Snape," Sirius smirked as he walked towards the front door. "With the same filthy appearance – I guess a man's house does reflect him."

"That's enough," Dumbldedore stopped Snape from charging at Sirius. "Severus, go back to Hogwarts immediate. Sirius and Remus, inside."

It wasn't quite as bad inside as Sirius had imagined. For one thing, Snape's poverty did not allow for many possessions, and so the two rooms downstairs were mostly empty. One of the two chairs in the first room was broken, and the table leaned precariously. In the kitchen, two cabinet doors were torn clear off, and broken glass lay in one corner.

"I considered cleaning this up before I brought you here," Dumbledore commented. "But seeing as how you need something to keep you busy, I thought I would let you get busy on your own time."

"Oh, brilliant," Sirius frowned. "The greasy idiot turns my friend into a child, and now we have to go and clean his house. Make us ruddy house elves, won't you?"

"I think you will need something to do," Dumbledore said calmly. "As for Remus – Remus? Where did he go?"

"I'm up here," Remus called from the top of the stairs. "There are two rooms upstairs, but only one has a bed. Where's the other bed?"

"May I suggest," Dumbldedore said in a low voice to Sirius, "that you transform something into a small bed, or our young friend will be forced to sleep on the floor?"

"Can he just –" Sirius stopped suddenly. "Does he have his wand?"

"No, my dear boy," Dumbledore smiled wisely. "I took that from him the first moment I saw him changed. He protested, but he will not have it again until he changes back into an adult."

"I don't see why you're making a huge fuss over all this," Sirius protested. "It's Remus – he's the most responsible of all of us. His body's changed, but it's still him inside."

"Yes, but his impulses will be that of a child. The mind can conquer all sorts of obstacles, but eventually it must give into the demands of the body. You will see."

"If you say so," Sirius said, not convinced.

"Which brings me back to my earlier point – you must be the adult here, Sirius. I do not care how much you would like to enjoy yourself or spend your free time. You have to look after the boy and ensure that he does not get hurt or into trouble or any of the other mischief children cause. You will be responsible for getting him food and clothes and making sure he goes to bed and does not wander off –"

"With all due respect, sir, I think I know Remus better than you do. We'll just live here and get along. Don't worry about us."

Dumbledore frowned, but then agreed, "I will check back in three days. You better have everything under control or I will make other arrangements."

Dumbledore's tone irked Sirius, and he pointed out, "James and Lily did trust me enough to be Harry's godfather."

"And you all trusted Peter Pettigrew," Dumbledore added quietly.

"What are you saying?" Sirius demanded.

"Appearances have a way of deceiving us," Dumbledore said. "I have brought a basket of food for the next few days along with the Wolfsbane potion, this one the correct kind."

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked doubtfully.

"Snape swore to me, and it will be his neck if he lies," Dumbledore said darkly. "Make sure Remus has a dose of this before bedtime." Raising his voice, he called, "Remus, I'm leaving now."

"Wait!" shoes clattered over the wooden floor and down the top stairs. "I want to – whoa!"

Remus tripped somewhere in the middle of the staircase and fell forward. Sirius lurched forward just in time to catch the boy in his arms, barely keeping Remus from slamming headfirst into the floor.

"Whoa," Remus looked up at Sirius with wide eyes, "I tripped. That was a long way down."

"No running in the house," Dumbledore said sternly.

Sirius set the boy on his feet, wanting for some strange reason to shake Remus. If Sirius had not been there to catch him – at the very least Remus would have been badly bruised.

"Sorry, sir," Remus apologized to the headmaster. "It's just my legs are short now. I have to run to get anywhere."

"Then you slow down and take longer," Dumbledore told him. "I have to leave now. Will you be all right here with Sirius?"

Remus frowned slightly at the man's tone, the edges of his tiny mouth tucking down. "I want to stay here with Sirius. I will be perfectly fine, and I'll be responthi – responthe –" Remus could not pronounce the long word and finally said, "I'll be good."

"That's what I wanted to hear," Dumbledore nodded. "I will be back in three days. Mind Sirius, and Sirius, pay attention."

Dumbledore walked out of the door and Apparated on the front step.

"What's wrong with him?" Remus looked up at Sirius. "I don't remember him being that bad, even when I was at Hogswarts as a student."

"I just hope he lights into Snape," Sirius grumbled. "What a mess this is! Guess the old git likes to live in a pigsty. This place reeks."

"Yeah," Remus nodded, "what are we going to do first? Can we unpack our stuff? Which room to you want?"

Remus began scrambling up the steps. Sirius opened his mouth to tell him not to run but caught himself just in time. Despite his childish looks, Remus was still an adult somewhere in there.

After fixing the bedrooms (including transforming a broken mirror into a child's bed), they started working on the downstairs. Sirius would clean the kitchen while Remus started scrubbing the floor of the living room. Because Remus did not have a wand, Sirius planned to help him the minute he finished with the kitchen. It was rather amusing to see Remus try to carry a bucket of water almost as big as he was, and he ended up dragging it across the wooden floor into the living room.

In the kitchen, Sirius filled more buckets with clean warm water and set brushes and bars of soap to scour the walls and floor. Dumbledore's basket was filled with food – stew in a large container, two loaves of bread, several chucks of cooked meat, cheese, rice pudding, kidney pie, dry cereal, and a bottle of milk along with a bottle of the potion. It was enough food to last two men two or three days, and at the bottom of the basket was an envelope filled with Muggle and Wizard money for when they needed more.

Sirius thought a bottle of wine might have been nice, but he supposed Dumbledore didn't have a lot of those lying around at school. Sirius spelled a bucket of water into ice and moved the ice and food into the empty ice box. Next he went to look for dishes and found a few mismatched plates and mugs in a corner cabinet.

As he flew the dishes and mugs into a pail of soapy water, Sirius angrily wondered why Snape couldn't keep a better house. To be sure, Sirius's own house, 12 Grimmauld Place, was left in shambles, but that was because he hated the house and had not been there in years. Snape supposedly lived in this shack for two months out of the year, and there was no reason to let it get so run down. Especially since it would be so easy to use magic to clean the whole place.

As the last of the dishes finished cleaning, Sirius wondered if he should start on another room or set out food for supper. He was getting hungry, and he was sure Remus felt the same way.

"Remus," he called as he stepped out of the kitchen, "how's the other room –" Sirius dropped off at the sight of the empty living room.

"Remus?" Sirius called. "Are you upstairs?"

Getting no answer, he dashed up the stairs. Both bedrooms were empty. Slightly panicked, Sirius headed back downstairs. He tried to remind himself that Remus was an adult, that he was capable of taking care of himself, but at the same time, he looked like a little boy.

Running out the front door, Sirius bellowed, "Remus? Remus Lupin?"

"What?' came a small voice behind him.

Sirius turned to see Remus standing barefoot beside a half-destroyed bush, small branches in both of the boy's hands.

"What are you doing out here?" Sirius asked in a harsher voice than he meant to use. "I thought you said you were going to clean the living room."

"I know," Remus nodded, his face drawn and confused. "I tried. But – but I couldn't concentwate – con-cen-trate," Remus pronounced each syllable of the long word to get it right, "and I kept thinking I would have more fun outside."

"More fun?" Sirius repeated incredulously. "Since when do you have fun? I thought we were going to work. And what are you doing with the plant?"

"Well, I thought I could start on the outside of the house," Remus retraced his thoughts carefully. "And I thought I could paint the house. But to reach up high enough I need a ladder. And I was going to look for a ladder when I thought the bush was in the place I needed to put the ladder. So I started digging up the bush. Then you came out."

"Paint the – ladder – bush – no," Sirius tried to find the right words to say. "You – back inside. We've got to get the inside cleaned up first."

"All right," Remus tossed his pieces of bush away. "But can we have supper soon? I'm hungry. And my hands are all dirty."

"We can have supper," Sirius agreed. As they went inside, he felt bad for yelling at his friend. Remus was the one with the long concentration skills. He had been the one who got James and Remus to study instead of goofing off all evening.

Remus tried to wash his hands in a bucket of clean water, but he splashed so much on the floor that he slipped in the puddle and knocked the whole bucket over.

"Sorry," he muttered as he stood, giving the bucket hateful looks.

"Go upstairs and change," the words left Sirius's mouth before he realized he had said them. "I'll fix supper."

"I can help," Remus protested, but Sirius hastily said,

"No, no! I can do it. Just go get changed."

While Remus went upstairs, Sirius heated the stew on the old stove and cut up bread and butter to toast. It was rather a plain meal, but he felt too tired to put more effort into it.

Remus came down in changed clothes with his tee shirt on inside out, but Sirius thought it was better not to tease him about it. Instead, he divided the stew into two bowls and piled the bread on a plate. With glasses of water, he sat down at the table across from Remus. Remus's chin barely reached over the edge of the table, and Sirius immediately spelled the chair legs to grow a little higher.

"Thanks," Remus smiled as he could put his arms over the table.

"Eat up," Sirius picked up his spoon.

The stew was very good – thick and strong with a heavy flavor of beef. Sirius began to eat as if he was famished. He got through almost all of his bowl before he glanced at Remus. To his surprised, Remus was stirring his food slowly and lifting his spoon up to let the stew slide back into the bowl. Seeing Sirius's gaze, Remus stuck his tongue out to touch the spoon, tasting the smallest bit of the stew.

"What's wrong?" Sirius asked.

"I don't like it," Remus answered. He blinked at his own words and then added, "I mean, it tastes different than I remember it tasting. It's so thick and all this meat and there's fat in here, too."

"So?" Sirius looked at him, wondering what on earth was wrong with his friend. "Just eat it. We'll have something different tomorrow."

Remus said nothing as he began spooning up the stuff and swallowing it, trying not to make faces.

Sirius set toe eating the rest of his, scraping the bowl at the end. He wished he had put more in his bowl than dividing it up evenly. One bowl of stew and two pieces of bread were barely enough, considering he had skipped lunch. He looked hungrily at Remus's bowl, wondering, if he finished the boy's food, could he blame his bad manners on being a dog for so long.

His bowl barely half empty, Remus put his spoon down with glassy eyes. "It's not fair," he protested, sniffing.

"What's not fair?" Sirius asked.

"This," Remus held out his arms. "Look at me – I'm tiny and I can't do anything. I can't reach anything, and I fall downstairs, and I can't say words right anymore, and food tastes different, and – and now I'm crying."

Sirius sat awkwardly as tears began rolling down Remus's red cheeks. The boy brought one tiny fist up to wipe them away, but they kept coming, huge tears that rolled out of his sad eyes.

"Hey, hey," Sirius tried to make his voice calm, "don't cry, mate. It's – you're all right. You're just hungry."

"No, I'm not," Remus said miserably. "I should be, but I ate half the bowl and I'm full. And my eyes hurt and my head, and I feel sick."

"Then don't eat anymore," Sirius sat. He glanced over to the clock over the stove – the one thing that Snape had kept running ."It's only half past eight. Why don't I fix up some tea and you can read all those books you made us bring?"

"Okay," Remus nodded, sniffling a little. "But I can I have milk instead of tea?"

"Sure," Sirius said though he knew Remus liked tea after supper. Well, the adult Remus did.

A few minutes later, Remus was propped up in a chair with a huge book spread over his lap. Sirius went back to the kitchen to start cleaning the dishes, and it was after nine when he came back out with tea and milk. He found Remus still in the chair, but now almost asleep.

"Wake up," Sirius said teasingly. "I got milk for you."

Remus opened his eyes to slits and frowned. "Not thirsty anymore . . . tired."

"You want to go to bed?" Sirius was incredulous. "It's not even ten. We could talk for a while or play a game. I brought cards."

"Want to sleep," Remus muttered. He leaned back in his chair.

Sirius hesitated. He had slept in chairs before and found them uncomfortable, and he always woke in middle of the night with an aching neck and stiff back. "Why don't you go upstairs to your own bed?"

"Fine," Remus tried to lift the book, but it slid off his lap and hit the floor with a crash. Remus gave a cry at the loud noise, and then he seemed to lose control of himself again. He rolled out of the chair and landed on the floor, leaning his back against one chair leg as he started to cry again.

"My body hurts," he objected. "I hurt all over – Sirius, what's wrong with me?"

Sirius barely recognized the man who used to be his friend. All he could see was a wailing child on the floor who was causing more trouble than any child had ever caused.

"That's enough," Sirius said sternly. He bent down to scoop the boy up, holding Remus against one hip with one arm under the child's bottom. Sirius expected Remus to demand to be let down, to fuss against being held like a baby; instead the boy leaned against Sirius's shoulder, sniffing still.

"I want Mama," the little boy cried. "She helps me when I'm sick. I want her."

"Mama's not here," Sirius said hastily. He began walking to the stairs as quickly as possible. He had no idea what to do with Remus, but he guessed he needed to get the child into bed as soon as he could.

Taking Remus into the bedroom with the smaller bed, Sirius saw the bottle of potion on the table next to the bed. Somehow, he had to get Remus to take a dose of it along with getting him to change into his nightclothes and brushing his teeth.

As he headed for the bed, Sirius wondered if Remus would be any easier to deal with once he turned into a werewolf in two days.


	3. Panic

AN: Getting stuff done and chapters up. We'll see how long it lasts.

Warning: Spanking in this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own.

--

"Don't want to wear that," Remus pushed the nightshirt away. "I want real pajamas."

"All right," Sirius took out his wand and transformed the nightshirt into a pair of light blue pajamas.

"No, Remus shook his head, "don't want blue. Blue's for babies."

"Fine," Sirius changed the color to red.

"Too dark," Remus frowned. "All dark like blood."

Sirius began to lighten the red, and Remus shrieked, "Pink! I hate pink. It's for girls."

"Tell me what color you want the pajamas," Sirius kept his voice level though he was starting to lose patience.

"Yellow – it's my favorite," Remus insisted.

Sirius had never known Remus to have any particularities for yellow, but he obligingly turned the pajamas to yellow.

"That's too bright," Remus objected. "It's all happy. I don't want happy pajamas."

"Yellow is yellow – now get into them," Sirius ordered, a tad short.

"Fine," Remus grabbed the two pieces of clothing. "Well? Don't look."

"We lived in the same dorm room for seven years. Sixth year – James dared us to go skinny-dipping in the lake and he stole our clothes and we had to streak back to the dorm wearing only our shoes, remember?"

"Don't care," Remus marched behind his bed and glared at Sirius.

Sirius gave up and headed for the hall. He leaned against the wall, wondering how long he would have to indulge the tiny version of his friend.

After a few minutes, sounds of struggling drifting from bedroom, and Sirius peeked his head in. Remus had gotten the pajama bottoms on, but he fought with the top, trying to stick his head in one of the sleeves. Frustrated again, Remus yanked the whole thing off and threw it on the bed.

"Stupid shirt, stupid, stupid –"

Sirius grabbed the shirt and scooped up Remus with the other hand. He sat on the bed, propped Remus on one knee, and began opening the shirt.

"Put me down," Remus protested. "Stop picking me up."

"Stop struggling," Sirius pulled the shirt over the little boy's head and waited for him to poke his hands into the sleeves.

Now in the pajamas, Remus tried to scoot off Sirius's knee, but the man held the boy tight for a moment.

"Wait, let's take your potion first," Sirius grabbed the bottle and pour out a dose into the spoon. "Swallow it."

"Don't like it," Remus shook his head again. "It's a yucky and Snape always makes it worse, I know he does. He doesn't like me, and he's mean, and no potion!" Remus reached out and stuck the spoon. The potion splattered over the bed.

"Remus, look what you did," Sirius barked at him.

The little boy looked up startled. He started sniffing, like he was about to cry, but Sirius had reached the limit of his patience.

"You're taking the potion and that's it," Sirius poured another spoonful and tightened his arm around the small boy. "Open up and no more fighting."

Remus made a face, but the strong arm around his body held him still, and eventually he opened his mouth the smallest bit and let Sirius stick in the spoon. He gulped down the potion and began whining about the taste immediately.

"Go on and brush your teeth," Sirius set him down on the floor and gave him a nudge towards the bathroom.

"Don't want to – they're clean," Remus decided.

"Go brush your teeth," Sirius ordered, trying not to raise his voice as he took his wand out to clean up the spilled potion. He watched the small boy walk, nearly stomp, to the bathroom, and Sirius wondered how long he would have to put up with such defiant behavior. Good grief, it wasn't as if he were asking his friend to do anything hard. Put on his pajamas, take his potion, brush his teeth. He wondered if Remus had been that difficult as a child. By the time of Hogwarts, Remus had been the mildest mannered, least out-spoken of the four, very cheerful and compliant – a far cry from the little boy who had just stomped into the bathroom.

Two minutes later Remus came back, lip suck out stubbornly again. "I'm not tired," he said, squinting his red eyes to keep them open. "I want to stay up."

"Suit yourself," Sirius stood up. "Why don't you sit on your bed for a while and read a book? You can sleep when you get tired."

Remus got into bed and promptly collapsed on his pillow, too exhausted to even reach for the book. Sirius resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead began to extinguish the lights.

"No!" Remus cried when the last candle went out, "no, it's too dark."

"I thought you liked the dark."

"It's so dark," the little boy protested.

"That's rather the definition of dark," Sirius struggled to hold in his temper. "Do you want me to leave one candle on?"

"No, I'm not a baby. I don't need a nightlight," Remus shot back.

Calm deep breaths, Sirius reminded himself. "Would you like me to leave the door open?"

"Yes," Remus snuggled into the pillow.

"Fine, then."

"Good night, Sirius," Remus called.

Sirius paused in the doorway to reply calmly, "Good night, Remus."

Careful to leave the door open all the way, Sirius went into his bedroom and flopped on the bed, too worn out to even change his clothes. He stared up at the ceiling, wondering how many years more he would have to spend in Azkaban if he tossed Remus out the window and then went to murder Snape. He fell asleep imaging the different ways to torture a potions master before boiling him in his own cauldron.

--

Forty-two hours later, the afternoon of their third day at the small house, Sirius sat in a chair and wondered how far down the road he would have to go to get three bottles of fire whiskey to drown his sorrows. By the second day he had reached the conclusion that friends who got shrunken back into children should be sent far away and never seen again.

Everything seemed a struggle with Remus. The little boy didn't want to eat anything. He would watch happily as Sirius cooked meals, but when the food was set in front of him, Remus would take one bite and declare he didn't like it and he didn't want it. When asked what he did want, Remus would reply, "Anything but this."

Entertaining him proved a problem as well; Sirius thought they could take long walks together, but about a mile from the house, Remus complained that his legs were too tired to keep going. Sirius half-dragged, half-carried him home.

Yesterday afternoon, Sirius had sat in an armchair reading and had drifted off to sleep only to have a loud crash from the kitchen awaken him. He ran into the kitchen to see Remus covered with flour, the little boy thinking that large canister of flour was the biscuit jar.

Sirius had stepped forward, ready to smack the child for trying to climb up so high, but he caught himself just in time, reminding himself that Remus was really an adult inside.

However, Sirius kept finding it harder and harder to remember the child was his friend and not a brat sent to torment him.

"I want to play outside," Remus suddenly appeared by the arm of chair.

"Oh, all right," Sirius agreed, thinking it would be nice to have a few minutes of quiet. "Stay near the house."

"Okay," the little boy agreed, flying out the door and slamming with a bang that shook the whole house.

"Who cares?" Sirius muttered, leaned back in his chair. "Let him play and let me rest."

He soon fell asleep and napped for an hour, enjoying the stillness of the house. When he woke, he grudgingly forced himself to stand up and wander into the kitchen. It was almost four, a perfect time for a spot of tea without having to worry about supper just yet. Knowing tea was the only thing Remus still like, Sirius went to the front door and called out, "Remus, do you want some tea?"

No answer came.

Sirius sighed and added, "You can have a biscuit with it."

Still no answer.

Concerned, Sirius stepped outside and began to circle around the house. He went around twice before he realized that Remus was not near the house.

Slightly panicked, Sirius ran out to the road. Still no sight of him.

Fear churning in his stomach, Sirius shouted," Remus? Remus, where are you?"

He ran up one side of the road and then the other, fighting against flat-out hysteria. He kept picturing what Remus looked like now: a sweet-faced boy with soft hair and big eyes. A pedophile's fantasy.

There wasn't much traffic out this way, but occasionally a car would come by or a walker, and Sirius could imagine a man talking to Remus, nicely asking him if he wanted to go for a ride or get a treat, and Remus going along happily . . .

Swearing under his breath, Sirius pulled out his wand. "Point me towards him," he commanded, laying the wand flat on his open palm. The wand twitched, and then it began rotating until the tip pointed down the road to the right.

Sirius began running. He tried to run fast, but even he couldn't push himself enough to get the images out of his head. He saw the pedophile doing horrible, unspeakable things to the little boy, and in each of the revolting pictures, Remus was crying out for Sirius.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Sirius promised, panting as he sprinted.

The road went around a bend, and as Sirius dashed around it, he saw a small boy sitting on the ground, head bowed.

"Remus!" he shouted.

The little boy looked up. "Oh, hi, Sirius."

"Are you all right?" Sirius grabbed him with both hands, pulling him to his feet. "Did he hurt you?"

"Who?" Remus blinked in confusion.

"The man who took you away from the house."

"I haven't seen anyone. Just me."

"What are you doing here?" Sirius said, still feeling sick.

"I walked down here. Then I got tired, so I decided to rest. Can we go home and have some tea?"

"You – you came out here by yourself?" Sirius barely kept from yelling. "I told you to stay near the house."

"I was bored there," Remus shrugged.

"You were bored there?" Sirius could barely his fury. "So you thought you'd just start off on your own? What if something had happened to you?"

"I can take care of myself," Remus looked up, that stubborn bottom lip out again.

Sirius really thought he would burst a blood vessel. He grabbed the small boy, wrapped him arms tight around him, and Apparated back to the front of the house.

"Uh, I don't like that," Remus whined. "It made me all dizzy and – Sirius, let me down."

Sirius kept his grip around the small boy as he marched into the house. Sirius had never felt such awful, overwhelming fear for someone else since the night Lily and James had died. He carried Remus over to the chair and sat down, shifting the boy over his knees.

"What are doing you?" Remus asked, finally worried. "Let me go – I don't like this."

"I don't like having a stroke when you suddenly disappear," Sirius growled as he lifted his hand and brought it down on the squirming bottom.

"Sirius, it's me – your friend," Remus protested. "We're best friends."

"Were best friends," Sirius corrected, swatting him again and then again. "You are the child now, and I'm the adult. Yes, it's horrible. Yes, we'd both like to thrash Snape within an inch of his life. But for the time being, I am taking care of you and you have to mind me."

"I'm sorry," Remus cried. "Really, sorry."

"You knew better," Sirius continued spanking him, grabbing Remus's hand when the little boy threw it back to cover his bottom. "And even if you didn't, I told you to stay near the house."

"Stop spanking me," Remus begged. "You can't – I'm a grown-up."

"And another thing," Sirius went on with the lecturing and the swatting, "when I tell you to do something, I mean for you to do it now without arguing or cheek. I'm tired of cooking and listening to your complaints about the food. If I could let you cook your own meals, I would, but you'd burn yourself. So I have to do and you are going to eat it without complaining. It's food you liked as an adult, and you'll like it now, or you can go hungry."

"All right," Remus wailed, trying to wriggling his bottom out of the line of fire.

"And you're going to go to bed and taking your potion and staying near the house like a good boy, or I'll take a slipper to you," Sirius threatened.

"You can't!" Remus cried, his voice full of tears. "You're – you're not my father."

"I am now," Sirius told him sternly. "Later when you get returned to your real age and size, we can be old mates again, but for now you will obey me and respect me and act like a good little boy or I'll make this second childhood something you'll never forget."

"Waaaah!" Remus bawled, grabbing onto Sirius's leg for dear life. "Waaah-haaaah!"

Sirius dropped his hand, feeling rather dreadful. Had he been too harsh with the boy? Biting his lip, Sirius reached for the boy's waistband, ready to pull his trousers down to see the damage.

"No!" Remus protested around his sobs. "Don't spank me bare. No, Siwius, please. Siwius, don't."

Sirius felt relived that the child could still articulate his concerns, but he kept his hand on the boy's waistband as he warned, "If you ever leave home like that again, the trousers come down. Do you understand?"

"Yeth, yeth," Remus cried, sounding more babyish be the second.

"All right, you can get up," Sirius stood Remus up between his knees, keeping his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Don't ever scare me like that again. I couldn't face Dumbledore if something happened to you, and I couldn't face myself either."

Remus said nothing; he launched himself at Sirius, wrapping his chubby arms around the man's neck and burying his face into his shoulder. Sirius scooped up the boy and held him tight, feeling Remus shake with muffled sobs.

"I hate being like this," Remus sniffed, damping Sirius's shirt with his tears.

"I know," Sirius held him close. "I remember being little. As far as I'm concerned, the only good thing about childhood was when it ended. And I promise, once you're grown-up again, I won't bring this up ever."

Sirius waited, hoping it might calm Remus to know that Sirius would not tease him about spanking him once they got Remus back to his original size, but the boy just held onto tighter.

They stayed like that for some time until Remus's tears stopped and Sirius's arm fell asleep.

--

Supper that night was quite different from any other meal eaten in the house before. Sirius cooked as usual, but Remus made no comment about the food, just picked up his fork and ate what he could.

"Why don't you read for a while before bed?" Sirius suggested later as he washed up the dishes. "You got about hour."

Remus made no complaint about going to bed at eight, but he seemed jumpy and restless the later the evening got. He got into bed by nine, having taken his potion and brushed his teeth, but Sirius heard him tossing on the bed long after telling the boy good night. Around nine, when the October evening was dark, Sirius heard a loud bump upstairs.

Frowning, he mounted the stairs and went into the child's room. "You're supposed to be asleep," he scolded.

"Can't," Remus complained. "Full moon."

"That's right," Sirius went to the window and looked up at the sky. The night was cloudless, a rarity in Britain, and the huge round moon glowed in the black sky. "So what happens when you take the potion? I've seen you as a werewolf, but not with the potion. What does it do?"

When he got no answer, Sirius glanced back to the bed. The little boy had disappeared. But instead of a small werewolf with its ugly face and razor teeth, a small wolf cub stood on the bed. Barely bigger than a puppy, with short fur and a tiny wolf's snout, it ran to the edge of the bed and gave a weak howl at the full moon.


	4. Milk

AN: I thought I was done with this story, but I reread it last night and just couldn't leave it alone. Hope you enjoy.

Thanks to Fawkes Song for beta. I don't understand how she does it so fast. I'm suspecting some kind of dark magic . . .

----

After staring at the cub for a few seconds, Sirius approached him. "Remus?"

The wolf gave a fierce yelp and sprung towards him, clamping his teeth over Sirius's hand. Had the cub been any bigger, it might have hurt, but he was too small to do more than pinch and whimper as he tried to bite through Sirius's hand.

Sirius reached back to pop his hand against the cub's hindquarters, right over his wriggling tail. The cub let go with a whimper, and it lifted sad eyes up to Sirius before breaking into a helpless howl of pain and injustice.

"You can't bite people," Sirius scolded as he gathered the cub up. When Remus tried to bite him again, Sirius put a warning hand over his squirming rear. "No biting or I'll have to smack you again. I know it hurts, I know you don't like being small, and I know you feel like your life is tragic, but you don't bite anyone."

Remus squirmed around and started gnawing on Sirius's sleeve.

Something rustled outside, a branch blown against the house, and the cub jumped right off Sirius's lap and launched towards the window, barking high-pitched yelps to scare off an intruder.

"There is no one out there," Sirius said, but the cub wouldn't rest, scratching at the wall to get up and see. Sighing, Sirius swept him up and showed him the window. "See? Nothing out there. Why don't you get in bed and tomorrow –"

The cub jumped out of Sirius's arms, right for the window. Thankfully, it was closed, but the cub hit the glass and tumbled to the ground. And he broke into another chorus of wails at the shock and pain and unfairness of it all.

Sirius sat down on the edge of the child's bed and watched the cub sob for ten seconds before breaking into a frenzied run around the room. Sirius thought about changing into a dog and chasing the cub around, but he figured he could handle Remus better in human form and not risk hurting him. The cub raced around like a demon, but every so often he would catch sight of his own tail and commence into a circular pattern where he chased his tail futilely, never able to bite it. Sirius wondered if he ever did manage to bite it if it would send the cub into another bout of wails.

After the running, there was lots of sniffing – sniffing the floor, sniffing the bed, sniffing the door, sniffing Sirius's shoes. Then the cub caught sight of its shadow on the wall and it leaped around in confusion at the pouncing dark shape on the wall.

Struck with an idea, Sirius took the small mirror over the bureau and put it on the floor. The moment the cub saw its reflection, crazed growling and barking broke out as the cub attempted to attack the mirror over and over again.

"All right, sorry for that," Sirius put the mirror back on the wall. "I thought you could recognize your own reflection. I guess your dog side doesn't understand that like a little boy would. You're not little Remus anymore than he's grown-up Lupin. No, no biting! That's it – come here!"

He made a swipe for the cub, but Remus dashed away and ran under the bed. He stayed there, waiting and watching Sirius.

"You come out here and face your punishment," Sirius said, trying not to smile. "You've got a thorough smacking coming for being so bad. But if you come out right away, I might change that to a good tickling. Come on, puppy – come out."

The cub backed further under the bed, panting with its tiny tongue hanging out. As Sirius's hand came near, it laid its snout on the floor and covered its big brown eyes with two furry paws.

"Think you're hiding, do you?" Sirius chuckled. He grabbed the cub up – it gave a surprised yelp – and he hugged it close, petting its furry body and stroking over its silky head.

Remus began to lick at Sirius's fingers, clearly affectionate and forgiving once he realized he wouldn't be smacked. He even lifted his head so Sirius could scratch under his chin, and then he nuzzled against Sirius's arm.

"What's it going to take to tire you out?" Sirius asked. "It's late, even for a wolf cub. You want to go out? You want something to drink?"

He took the cub downstairs and went out into the backyard. The cub twisted and struggled to get down, but Sirius transformed a length of rope to tie around its neck before setting him down on the ground. It was a smart decision because Remus took off the moment he touched the soft grass, and he might have run far away had Sirius not held firmly on the rope. The cub gave him a sad look at being kept on a leash, but then he set to sniffing the whole yard.

Sirius tied the rope to the doorknob and went into the kitchen to heat some milk for the cub. He thought Remus could probably lap up the milk, but the goal was to get Remus to sleep so Sirius transformed a cup into a bottle and poured the warm milk into it before fixing a rubber top over it.

Once he got the bottle ready, he took the cub back upstairs, shaking his head over how active and squirmy Remus was. It was a challenge just to keep a hold on him and not drop him down the stairs.

"Settle down," he told the cub as he sat down on Remus's small bed. "Look, I got a bottle of warm milk. I even added a little honey to make it taste good. So let's calm down – no, no more biting – and drink this."

The cub sniffed the bottle and then he tried to bite it. Sirius held him firmly against his chest, not letting him move, and then he tipped the rubber top into the cub's mouth. Remus began suckling at the milk, staying still for the first time that evening. As he calmed down, Sirius loosened his hold and he started petting the dog again, scratching into his thick fur and patting his back gently.

The cub got very still, and the only thing that moved was his tail that swayed back and forth as he gulped down the milk. Sirius kept petting him, hoping to ease the cub into sleep. The room was warm and comfortable, and Sirius found that his own patting began to soothe him into drowsiness as well.

He sat down on the bed, angling his body back against the headboard to keep the cub against his chest but also to get him as flat as possible, ready to transfer him to the bed once he was sound asleep.

Sirius kept patting, a soft rhythm to lull the cub to sleep faster.

Sirius was not sure when he himself fell asleep, but when he opened his eyes, morning light shone through the windows. And he was holding an armful of a sleeping little boy against his chest, the bottle top still in his mouth.

Sirius shifted, hoping to put Remus in his own bed, but the moment he moved, Remus opened his eyes. He stared up at Sirius, not fully awake, but then he squirmed and spit out the bottle.

"Yuck," Remus sat up. "I don't want a bottle. Why are you here in my bed?"

"Don't you remember last night?" Sirius rolled off the bed and stood up, stretching his sore back. He was getting too old to sleep sitting up.

"No. My teeth hurt. And I'm achy all over."

"That's probably the change. You turned into a wolf cub last night. I gave you some milk to calm you down. I'll get you some breakfast."

Remus whined and snuggled down into his bed, not wanting to get up until breakfast was ready.

Sirius stumbled downstairs and clattered around the kitchen to fix some kind of food for the two of them.

"Parenthood is exhausting," Sirius mumbled. "But parenting a werewolf is a whole 'nother level of madness."

"Talking to yourself already?" a snide voice spoke from the open kitchen door.

Snape stood in the doorway, looking especially pleased with himself.

"Go away," Sirius reached for a pot.

"The headmaster sent me to see how his favorite students were doing – the mangy dog and the wolf."

"Amusing," Sirius said without the smallest trace of amusement. "You could have told me that the potion turned him into a wolf cub. I thought it would put him to sleep."

"And miss spending more time with his favorite friend?" Snape smirked. "I wouldn't dream of it."

"Do you have nothing better to do?" Sirius asked. "Death Eaters to plot with? Students to torture? Harry to outsmart you?"

"Potter does not outsmart me," Snape growled. "I'm onto him and his friends and his nefarious plots, that wicked thorn in my side, ugly teenage –"

"That's right," Sirius paused. "Harry's fourteen now. He would be old enough to babysit. He could use the portkey to come here and babysit for a few hours. I could have a break, then."

"Potter's not stepping foot in my house!" Snape looked wild. "I would die before I let him in here, that disobedient, arrogant, smug –"

"Shut up, Snivelus," Sirius said. "No one cares about you. Leave Potter – _Harry_ alone. And don't pretend that you don't know that the only reason I'm not crushing your miserable face into the floor is because I have to think of Remus first. And we both know who would win in a fight between us. When will the potion be ready?"

"Two more weeks," Snape seethed. "And then you're out of my house forever."

"Agreed," Sirius put the pot of water on the stove. "Though I don't know why you can't afford a better place than this hole. Your salary has to be more decent than that."

"What would you know about salaries?" Snape groused. "When was the last time you had a job? Who would hire you, escaped criminal?"

"If you're going to stay here for a few minutes more," Sirius ignored the last question, "you might as well help with breakfast. I'm going to get Remus ready."

"So now I'm your bloody cook? You think you can order me around like a house elf? I'd poison you both before I would fix you a cup of tea,"

Pushing his temper back, Sirius put the stirring spoon down and faced Snape. "All right, let's go."

"Go?" Snape raised one eyebrow. "Go where?"

"Outside. We've been building towards this fight for a long time. This is between you and me. This isn't about James because he's been dead for thirteen years. I was in prison for twelve for a crime I did not commit."

"You deserved to be there," Snape snarled. "You deserved it, you ugly dog."

"That's why we're settling this here and now," Sirius decided. "Dumbledore's not here, Harry's not here. You and me go outside and take care of this like men, like wizards."

Snape watched him suspiciously. "A fight? With wands?"

"Wands and fists."

"No limits?"

"No Unforgivable Curses or eye-gouging," Sirius grabbed his own wand. "No killing either. You have to go back to teach your classes and I have to take care of Remus for the next two weeks. But outside of that, we duel it out. First one to cry 'Truce' is the loser and the fight is over. If the loser needs medical attention, the winner makes sure he receives it, including going for help. And after this, we leave the past behind."

Snape studied him for a moment and then gave a curt nod. "Agreed."

Sirius put his hand out, and Snape took it. Snape's grip was a tad too tight, but Sirius made no comment as they both headed for the door.

The scrap of a backyard was not the place Sirius would have chosen to have a duel, but he went to the center and faced the left side, holding his wand up before his face. Snape faced the right so they were back-to-back and lifted his own wand.

"Eight paces and then turn and start," Sirius instructed. He could already picture Dumbledore's face when he heard about their fight, but Sirius wanted to make sure that it was as fair as possible so when he shredded Snape to pieces the headmaster would not lecture him too much.

"Ready?" Sirius asked.

"I hope you enjoy pain, dog," Snape spat. "Because I'm about to make Lupin watch as I decimate his best friend."

"You wish, Snivelus," Sirius retorted. "_En garde_. One, two, three . . ."

He counted out to eight, taking a step with each number. On eight, he whirled to face Snape, wand at the ready.


End file.
